China’s 12th Five-Year Plan for social security

China’s 12th Five-Year Plan has brought numerous benefits for China and the rest of the world. It proved to be a successful economic strategy for the country to maintain its growth, which bodes well for the 7 percent annual growth target for 2015.

China has been trying to expand the coverage of both the pension system and the medical insurance program. It’s crucial for the government to maintain social stability in China, which is a priority for policymaking here.

So far, the pension system has covered 846 million people, which is more than the population of Europe. The medical insurance system now covers 656 million people. But analysts say the quality of services still need to catch up with the expansion of the social security network.

Between 2005 and 2015, China increased the basic pension payment for 11 years, to an average of 2000 yuan per person each month. That’s about $300, only a quarter of that in the US.

For medical insurance, 70 percent of medical bills can be reimbursed in China. 194 million Chinese have received the insurance payment in 2014.

Social security is always a key sector for reforms. The US is working on medical insurance, Japan’s new abenomics covers similar topics as well. Let’s see if there will be more reforms in this sector in China’s upcoming 13th Five -Year Plan.